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An email from a career portal is in the mailbox: “Martina Müller has given a new job title.
Congratulations on her new position. “Martina Müller?
Who was that again?
From Xing to LinkedIn - career networks have been established in recent years.
There, users can make professional contacts that will help them further in their jobs.
Anyone who randomly adds former schoolmates, fellow students, work colleagues or experts will quickly lose track of things.
But how does meaningful online networking work?
Basically: “The quality of the contacts counts more than the quantity.
Having only a large number of contacts that you don't really have anything to do with can also become ballast ”, says Doris Brenner, career coach and author of the book“ Networking im Job ”.
But you don't necessarily have to know contacts personally.
People from your own industry in particular can be interesting.
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In the best case, there is a hook for establishing contact - a joint event or a recommendation from a friend.
"With the tag you then initiate the contact request and briefly describe what you want from others or what advantages you have to offer others," explains Andreas Lutz, board member of the independent association VGSD and author of the book "Praxisbuch Networking".
Basically, the first contact should be kept short.
If you write to busy people, you immediately provide all the necessary information.
Then the other can decide whether and how he would like to pursue the contact.
For this purpose, Lutz recommends to release your own contact data - that makes communication easier.
It can also be worth making contact with school friends and old acquaintances.
“If there are professional points of contact, then you should fall back on such contacts.
As a rule, access to the person is easier to establish than with other contacts, ”says Brenner.
Networking: It depends on the contacts of the contacts
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If you get a request yourself and don't know the person at first glance, you should first check the profile.
Martina Haas, who wrote the book “Crashkurs Networking”, thinks you should definitely respond to a request with an individual accompanying text.
It is relevant to whom interested parties are networked.
The network expert has established that most people overlook the “contacts of contacts”.
If someone asks without a profile photo or with a sketchy profile, this is a no-go.
Such a request should only be accepted if there is a valid reason.
At a networking meeting you usually get to know a lot of people.
It is therefore important to keep track of the contacts afterwards.
"When I come home with business cards, I look for the people I talk to on Xing and network with them there," Lutz gives as a tip on the way.
Even if these meetings have mainly taken place online since the beginning of the Corona crisis.
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It is crucial that you save contact data promptly - ideally with the photo of the person, the link to the online career portal, the date and a few keywords, what you discussed.
People establish themselves as reliable interlocutors when they send the agreed information by email straight away.
This also makes it possible to approach the other person if necessary and ask them for information, according to Lutz.
Online networking is only successful if working people maintain their personal side.
"If you don't keep your profile up-to-date, you're doing yourself a disservice - especially as the trend is increasing for employers to get in touch with potential new employees via social networks as part of what is known as active sourcing," says Brenner.
Professionals should position themselves broadly online
It is just as important to constantly expand your personal network.
But: not haphazardly, but purposefully.
Haas believes that networking has a creative element.
Namely "to weave a net and to add interesting people permanently".
And that regardless of whether a concrete benefit is in prospect, according to the expert.
Her recommendation: Working people should generally position themselves broadly - and develop specific networks for special topics.
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Even with an online profile, it can be difficult to keep track of contacts.
Many even have accounts with multiple networks.
What are the rules then?
Xing, for example, has its focus in German-speaking countries - whereas LinkedIn is a global leader in the international area.
“Therefore you should look where you set your focus.
That depends on the industry and the respective company and is therefore very individual, ”explains Brenner.
Anyone who has profiles in several portals should be aware that this generally takes more time - but more contacts can also be found.
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This article was first published in July 2019.